Davis excited about Blue Raiders’ future
Middle Tennessee State’s new men’s basketball coach shared his simple philosophy for rebuilding the Blue Raider program Thursday, when he visited the McMinnville Rotary Club.
Kermit Davis, who took the reins of the Blue Raiders four months ago following the resignation of Randy Wiel, addressed Thursday’s regular luncheon meeting, and expressed his desire for every athlete who plays for his program to get a degree, play hard, and come away with a memorable, enjoyable college experience.
“We want them to compete like heck, get a good experience on and off the floor, and represent us well,” said Davis, who was visiting Warren County along with his associate head coach, Donnie Tyndall. “We all know the ultimate judges are the parents of these athletes, and if a parent tells me their kid had a great experience, that reflects well on us as coaches.”
Davis comes to MTSU from Louisiana State, where he served as associate head coach. During his head coaching career, he has compiled a 137-74 lifetime record.
While MTSU has fallen on a bit of hard times of late, and finished 14-15 a year ago, Davis is confident he and his staff have the ability to turn things around.
“There are three things you have to do to grow a program: Recruit well, schedule smart and coach intelligently,” he said. “Are we problem-free right now? No, but our guys are making progress. We feel if we continue playing together, and playing with a sense of urgency, we can begin to have some success.”
While he was unable to comment on specific players, Davis assured Thursday’s audience he has several early commitments, and he and his staff are working to bring new talent to the Blue Raider program. Regarding scheduling, he expressed his desire to renew some of the Blue Raiders’ old Ohio Valley Conference rivalries, noting specifically how contests against Austin Peay, Morehead and longtime nemesis Tennessee Tech had been added to this year’s schedule.
Recalling the past enthusiasm that had surrounded the Blue Raider basketball program, and crediting McMinnville’s Jimmy Earle with helping renew that excitement during his tenure as head coach, Davis went on to describe how enthusiasm has faded over recent seasons.
“The last four or five years there has been a kind of a feeling of apathy with the basketball program, and we’re excited about this opportunity to create new interest,” he said. “We feel very, very fortunate to be at Middle Tennessee, and to try and take basketball back to the highest possible level.
“Will it happen overnight? No, but we are confident that we can make it happen.”